CARLTON TAKES THE CHECKERED FOR HIS FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON
Thorold, Ont….A fabulous spring Saturday at Merrittville Speedway saw Welland Tribune host their carriers and readers to a great card of action packed racing at this local oval – 5 classes of awesome racing under a clear night sky. Also on hand was Sparky the Fire Dog with a puppet show on fire safety and face painting for all the younger fans.
Kirk Wilson (08) picked up his checkered flag in the street stock division while 2000 Dwarf Car champ Lee Webber (17) picked up his second feature win of the season, as did Chad Brachmann (3b) who came from 18th spot to win the sportsman feature. Jeff Dayman (5) took home his first win this season in the pro-stock feature as did Fred Carleton (96) in the modified division.
Jerry Deschamps (f30) jumped to the front of the pack as the green flag fell, and after two laps had a pretty good lead on the field. The yellow came out on the track on lap six for Aaron Vasas (6) who lost control between turn one and two. Darren Zumpe (11z) managed to get the better of Deschamps on the restart and took the lead. Deschamps lost the handle in turn four, and ran into the infield, but managed to get back out without further incident unfortunately leaving him back in fourth spot. Jeff Cook (a1) was leaving a thick smoke screen on the track on lap five. Kirk Wilson (08) moved up to battle Zumpe head to head on lap seven. The yellow came out on lap nine as Zumpe tangled with some lapped traffic and almost lost his lead. Jason Harper (19j) was up to third spot before the caution, but had to leave the track with a flat tire. Zumpe managed to hold Wilson off on the restart, but lost it with only two laps to go. Wilson took the checkered and was followed in by Zumpe, Deschamps, Lloyd Cichocki (8c), and Mike Dooley (310c).
John Wrobel (6) and Scott Billing (31) started up front in the dwarf feature. Billing jumped ahead to take the early lead, but Jeff Johnson (63) spun it out on the first lap to bring out the yellow. Bill Perry (9) managed to grab second spot before the checkered came out, and wrestled Billing for the top spot on the restart and managed to get around him. Lee Webber (17) came from nowhere to jump into second spot on the third lap. Billing crashed in turn two, but managed to limp into the infield without a yellow flag. Webber made his way around Perry on the front stretch in lap five, and just continued to stretch out his lead. Ray Webber (77) sat back and tried to wrestle fourth away from Dave Ackler (7), and nailed it on lap nine. Lee Webber got himself into lapped traffic on lap 10, as his brother Ray moved into second spot behind him. Ray just couldn’t get around his brother. The two brothers came in one and two followed by Perry, Dave Russell (88) and Ackler rounded out the top five.
Rob Ledingham (19jr), Garry Moreash (124), John Hagerman (71h), Shawn Sliter (71s), Darryl Ebersole (66) and Pete Cosco (17c) qualified for the sportsman feature in the ‘B’ main.
Herb Hunter (95h) and Mike Ward (95w) started in the lead row for the second week in a row. Rick Baker (78) moved up after the green trying to run it up the middle, but was unsuccessful, and a major crash brought the cars back down to a crawl with the yellow. A.J. Schulz (88), Bill Bleich (108), and Mike Martin (99) were among the cars collected. Ward held the lead on the restart, as Ken Sargent (25) moved up into second spot behind him. Ron Zimmerman (6) got pointing the wrong way in turn two bringing out the second yellow of the race, on lap four. The pack went a little stir crazy on the restart, and shuffled Sargeant back into fourth spot. Ward held onto the lead with Baker trying to chase him down when Sargent broke and left the track on lap nine. Baker followed him to the pits two laps later. Danny Gilbert (400) was up to second spot, after the shuffle and put the push on to get ahead of Ward. While Gilbert and Ward were fighting, Steve Devos (13) snuck under them and took the lead. Ward spun Devos out on lap 14 and was black flagged. The top five with a one lap dash to the checkered were Jeff Dayman (5), Zimmerman, Dan Shoop (22s), Gilbert and Hunter. This was mixed up a bit as Dayman was the first to take the checkered followed in by Zimmerman, Shoop, Hunter and Gord McKey (14).
Rob Knapp took the early lead in the sportsman feature, only to be robbed of it by Jack McKinney (57) coming out of turn four. It looked like bumper cars as 7 spun out in turn one and took out Rob Pietz (69), Garry Moreash (124), Darryl Ebersole (66), and John Hagerman (71h). Tim Lipsitt (29) took the lead on the restart, only to have McKinney reclaim it on lap four. Six cars were damaged as they tried bumper cars again in turn four on lap five. Chad Brachmann (3b) was up to sixth spot after starting 18th. Brachmann put on a push for the lead, and made it into second spot on lap six. Brachmann grabbed the lead going across the line in lap eight. The rest of the race was for second. The caution came out on lap 15 as Shawn Sliter (71s) and Pietz tangled in turn four. With ten laps remaining it was Brachmann, Randy Chrysler (21k), McKinney, Wayne Conn (8c) and Adam Ferri (1). Conn managed to get up to third spot on lap 17, and Brad Rouse (75) broke into the top five on lap 18.
The yellow came out with only three laps left in the race, as Rob Knapp (y2k) spun out in turn four. Conn managed to get up to second spot on lap 23. Brachmann was the clear winner followed by Conn, Chrysler, Rouse and McKinney.
Dave Winfield (82) and Harry Sittler (44) started the modified race on the front row. Sittler was quick to move into the lead, as Greg Panunte (99p) moved up to challenge Winfield for second spot. Panunte grabbed the lead on the third lap, and after seven laps had a good lead on the rest of the field. Scott Wood (38) moved up to second spot on lap nine. The yellow came out on lucky lap number 13. Robbie Krull (123) lost it and collected Billy Krull (z1), Ken Cosgrove (9), Paul Ashton (3a), Todd Gordon (8eh) and Pete Bicknell (42). The restart saw yet another yellow as Ashton stalled on the back straightaway.
Bicknell received major front end damage on the second restart as he tangled with a few cars in turn one. Luke Carleton (97c) and Winfield were also involved. Wood took the lead off of turn two on the restart, leaving Panunte with second spot. Fred Carleton (96) shot from fourth to second on the restart. The yellow revisited the track on lap 18 as Pete Bicknell (42) and Fred Cade (12) tangled between one and two. Carleton ran into a lapped car on lap 28, Corey Gruhl (35c) decided to race with him, and gave him a good bounce before Carleton could clear him. The yellow came out again on lap 33, as Sittler lost the handle in turn four. Carleton took the checkered and his first feature win of the season. Wood came in second followed by Panunte, Rich Vinson (93) and Robbie Krull.
Join us at Merrittville on Mon May 21st - 21st Technologies presents Victoria Day 'Firecracker' 50 lap 358 John Spencer Memorial. Next up – Saturday May 26th – The Standard presents Carrier & Reader Appreciation Night and Mel Swart Spring Championships plus the second event in the ladies series. For more information call the Speedway 905-892-8266 or visit www.merrittvillespeedway.com.